Rajon Rondo’s 20 assists help Celtics crush Raptors

Sunday

Nov 18, 2012 at 6:00 AM

The Celtic beat the Toronto Raptors yesterday with a big assist from Rajon Rondo. Make that 20 big assists. Rondo always has been a pass-first point guard, but he’s piling up more assists than ever this season.

By Bill Doyle TELEGRAM & GAZETTE STAFF

The Celtic beat the Toronto Raptors yesterday with a big assist from Rajon Rondo.

Make that 20 big assists.

Rondo always has been a pass-first point guard, but he’s piling up more assists than ever this season. During yesterday’s 107-89 victory at the Garden, Rondo totaled 20 assists for the second time in the nine games he has played this season and for the sixth time in his career.

In the Celtics’ 66-year history, 20 assists or more were registered only five other times — twice by Bob Cousy, who owns the team record with 28, twice by Sherman Douglas, and once by Tiny Archibald. Rondo’s career high is 24.

“He’s Peyton Manning out there,” Courtney Lee said. “He’s picking the defense apart and he’s getting the ball to guys in the right position to score. He was actually mad about the 20 assists. He thought he could have gotten 30.”

Rondo lost any chance to reach 30 when he sat out the final 10-1/2 minutes with the Celtics leading by 20 and a game scheduled for tonight in Detroit.

Lee grew up in Indianapolis so he can be excused for comparing Rondo to Manning instead of Tom Brady, but the point remains. Rondo, a former high school quarterback in Kentucky, is the star signal-caller for the Celtics.

“I said from Day One,” Jason Terry said, “that he’s the best point guard in this league. This year, he’s definitely going to be in the talks when they’re talking about MVP if we can continue to win. The way he controls the game, his leadership, his ability to dominate the game on both ends of the floor, is what makes him special.”

“Jason, he’s on my side,” Rondo said, “so he’s a little biased, but you know MVP is in the picture. I would like to be one one day, but we’ve got to keep winning.”

Dethroning LeBron James as the league’s most valuable player would be difficult, but Rondo would love to be included in the conversion.

“I mean, who wouldn’t be?” Rondo said. “That’s the dream.”

Coach Doc Rivers said Rondo is such a good floor general, he sometimes creates a different offense than the one the team plans to run. Opposing coaches have tried all sorts of ways to stop him.

“It’s hard because he’s so smart,” Rivers said. “Now he’s making the (outside) shot, and it’s a lot harder.”

Rondo made 3 of 4 shots yesterday and scored six points, but his assists set him apart. He averages a league-high 13.4 helpers, 1.7 more than his league-high average of a year ago, and he averages 13.3 points a game. He reached double digits in assists for the 33rd consecutive game, the third-longest streak in league history.

“It’s something I look forward to every game,” Rondo said, “just trying to make my teammates happy, and somehow I keep getting to 10.”

Rondo returned to the lineup after missing Thursday’s loss at Brooklyn with a sprained right ankle. Thursday, the Celtics had only 17 assists, three fewer than Rondo had yesterday. Rondo jokingly estimated his ankle was about 79 percent healthy after the game, but said he expected to get to 94 percent after getting some rest last night.

The Celtics led by 16 points early in the second quarter, but Toronto closed within 55-53 on DeMar DeRozan’s alley-oop layup in the third quarter. Kevin Garnett went to the bench shortly afterward, and that’s never a good thing for the Celtics.

After Garnett left with 5:18 remaining in the second quarter, Toronto switched to a zone and quickly cut a 12-point deficit to three before the Celtics managed to end the half ahead, 47-40.

In the third quarter, however, Rondo made sure the Celtics wouldn’t miss their star center. After Rondo hit a 20-footer to boost Boston’s lead to 57-53, Garnett exited. Rondo assisted on seven of the eight baskets the Celtics scored the rest of the quarter as they built a 79-64 lead. Two of his passes went to Chris Wilcox for alley-oop dunks and two to Terry for 3-pointers.